The 2023 Vitality Netball World Cup is almost upon us, and this is your chance to familiarise yourself with how it will all go down from 28 July to 6 August at the Cape Town ICC.
The 16 teams will take part in 60-matches on the two courts across the 10 days of competition and every match will be broadcast live on SuperSport. Matches will also be broadcast on SABC.
The tournament comprises of three phases which include two group phases before the knockout and placing phase, from which the champion will emerge, and each team will be ranked from first to 16th.
Download the full match schedule
First Stage
Sixteen teams compete in the Netball World Cup from across the five World Netball regions. The event is played in three stages. All teams play in each stage and will have completed either 7 or 8 matches at the end of the event.
The first stage of play is four round-robin Pools of four teams (Pools A, B, C and D).
Each team plays three games – one against each of the others in the pool. At the end of the First stage each team in a Pool is ranked from 1 to 4.
e.g., A1, A2, A3, A4 etc.
… Matches in this stage may end in a drawn result.
Once all matches have been played in this stage each team finishes with 3 match results.
The top three teams from Pools A and B move forward to form Pool F, while the top three teams in Pools C and D form Pool G.
The bottom team from each pool (A4, B4, C4, D4) move forward and form Pool E.
Second Stage
Group F
The 3 teams from Pool A and B form Group F, with their ranking from pool play determining their new
position within the Group F
A1 = F1; A2 = F2; A3 = F3; B1 = F4; B2 = F5; B3 = F6.
The teams each carry forward the results (points/goals for and against) from the matches that they played against teams in their first stage pool. (2 x match results)
In the second stage each of the teams play the three teams from the other Pool that has joined them in Group F. e.g., the three teams from Pool A play the three Pool B teams.
… Matches in this stage may end in a drawn result.
Once all the matches have been played in this stage each team finishes with 5 match results. Teams are then re-ranked from F1 to F6.
Group G
The 3 teams from Pool C and Pool D form Group G, with their ranking from pool play determining their new position within Group G.
C1 = G1; C2 = G2; C3 = G3; D1 = G4; D2 = G5; D3 = G6.
The teams each carry forward the results (points/goals for and against) from the matches that they played against teams in their first stage pool.
In the second stage each of the teams play the three teams from the other Pool that has joined them in Group G. e.g. the three teams from Pool C play the three Pool D teams. Matches in this stage may end in a drawn result. Once all the matches have been played in this stage each team finishes with 5 match results.
Teams are then re-ranked from G1 to G6.
Group E
The bottom four teams – are named into position in Group E – A4=E1, B4=E2, C4=E3, D4=E4.
… Matches in this stage may end in a drawn result.
Once all the matches have been played in this stage each team finishes with 3 match results.
Each team plays each of the others in round-robin play, and based on results/points, are re-ranked from E1 to E4.
Third Stage
No matches in this stage can be drawn. All matches must play to a result.
Groups F & G
Following the re-ranking of teams in Groups F and G –
The teams finishing 1st and 2nd (F1, F2, G1, G2) go through to the top four and compete in; Semi-finals – F1 v G2/ G1 v F2
Followed by the medal matches where the winners meet for gold/silver (1st/2nd) and the losers meet for bronze (3rd/4th)
Teams that finish 3rd or 4th in Group F or G (F3, F4, G3, G4), compete for 5th to 8th place.
Cross-over matches – F3 v G4/ G3 v F4
Followed by a final classification match where the winners meet for 5th/6th and the loser meet for 7th/8th placings.
Teams that finish 5th in Group F and G (F5/G5), play a final classification match for 9th and 10th place. Teams that finish 6th in Group F and G (F6/G6) play a final classification match for 11th and 12th place.
Group E
Following the re-ranking of teams in Group E –
The top two teams (E1/E2) play a final classification match for 13th and 14th place. The bottom two teams (E3/E4) play a final classification match for 15th and 16th place.
